Democratic Party of Athens

The Democratic Party was a democratic faction in Athens which existed from 594 BC to 322 BC. The faction, which was informal (as there were no formal political parties in Athens), was founded by the democratic philosopher Solon and later led by Cleisthenes, Ephialtes, and Pericles. It became rivals with Cimon's conservative aristocratic faction during the 5th century BC, and the statesman Pericles became one of its leaders during the 460s BC. In 461 BC, the Democrats were elected to the Aeropagus council, the most powerful body in the state, and it gradually became dominant in Athenian politics due to Pericles' populist policies. That same year, Pericles had Cimon ostracized, and he ended the conservative threat by exiling the rival politician Thucydides in 442 BC. Starting in 431 BC, Pericles made a major enemy in Cleon, a demagogue who promised to "Make Athens Great Again" and pursue a more hawkish policy against Sparta during the Peloponnesian War. Pericles died in 429 BC, and Athenian democracy would survive until 322 BC, with the exception of two oligarchic periods. In 322 BC, Macedon suppressed democracy in Athens, and the original Athenian democracy was never truly restored.